Wire stranding machine creel



Aug. 14, 1945. H. E. KUEHN WIRE STRANDING MACHINE CREEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 11, 1944 INVENTOR //o Moro E A 116k ATTORNEYS 1945- H. E. KUEHN 2,382,884

WIRE STRANDING MACHINE CREEL Filed Jan. 11, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR H0 ware/5A1 k/z 5 ATTORNEYS atented Aug. 14, 1945 2,382,884 WIRE STRANDING MACHINE CREEL Howard E. Kuehn, Stonin mesne assignments, Company, Incorporate gton, Conn., assignor, by

to Farrel-Birmingham poration of Connecticut Application January 11, 1944, Serial No. 517,793

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a stranding machine or an apparatus for putting twist into or laying several strands into a. cable and is directed more particularly to the double twist type of machine wherein two twists or lays are placed in the strand each single revolution of the fiyer.

A plurality of supply packages are mounted upon a creel and the individual strands from these packages are passed into a hollow spindle. The threading of this spindle is a slow operation and should one of the strands break the broken end would pass into the hollow spindle necessitating the long tedious rethreading of the single strand when led directly from the package to the spindle.

One of the objects of this invention is to so arrange the lead of the individual strands that should a break occur the machine would be stopped prior to the end of this broken strand passing into the hollow spindle thereby facilitating piecing up of the broken end.

Another object of this invention is to provide an arrangement whereby the single strand material may be visibly exposed to the operator of the machine so that the broken end may be readily apparent upon inspection of the creel.

Another object of this invention is to locate the extended length of lead between the hollow spindle and a stop motion which is provided for the machine.

More specifically an object of the invention is to provide a. pair of spaced rotatable members and lead the single strand about these members a. suflicient number of times so as to provide a length to enable stopping of the machine before a. broken strand passes into the hollow spindle.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a. fragmental portion of the wire cable machine showing that portion which involves the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental view showing on a larger scale a portion of the showing of Fig. 2 with parts omitted to bring out parts which are hidden in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the center guide through which threading of the strands must be had.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the guide post Ansonia, Conn., a corabout which the strand is led and illustrating the stop motion actuating mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the wiring for the motor and stop mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the drum mounting bracket.

This invention is directed more particularly to a. portion of the complete cable making machine which is the subject matter of co-pending application Ser. No. 517,859, to which reference is made for a, more complete showing of the operating parts of the complete machine. This application deals more particularly with the novel arrangement which I provide for preventing a broken end of a wire strand passing into the hollow spindle thereby providing an opportunity for piecing up this end without the laborious necessity of rethreading the strand through the restricted guide and into the hollow spindle.

With reference to the drawings in designates the spindle of the complete machine which drives the fiyer H relative to the stationary framework l2 and relative to the creel l3 which is supported upon the spindle but maintained against movement with the spindle 'by a. drive mechanism which is explained in the co-pending application referred to above.

Equally spaced about the main deck of the creel l3 there are a plurality of spindles I 4 (see Fig. 3) each of which receives a supply package spool IS with strand material i6 wound thereon. The spool is held in place by a wing nut I! which has threaded engagement with the spindle l4. Radially inwardly from each package spindle there is a post designated generally l8 which consists of a. stud l9 threaded into the creel as at 20. Roller bearings 2| are provided at either end on the stud I!) to rotatably mount a sleeve 22 on this stud. An annulus 23 is slidably mounted on the sleeve and may contact an insulated conductor strip 24 spaced from the post and its mountings so as to complete a circuit from the strip 24 to the ground of the machine. The insulation is designated 25. The :brackets 26 are supported between each of the packages and provide mountings for guides 21 and 28 by means of the hub 29 and also mountings for the drums 30 and 3| which are rot-atably supported on each of the brackets. These drums 30 and 3| provide a means for leading the strand material many times about them.

The strand material designated in Fig. 3 as 32 is led about the post I8 and thence over the guide 21 and a. number of times about the drums 30 and 3| as designated at 33. When a sufficient wrapping of the two drums has been provided the strand now designated 34 is led over guide 28 and to the central guiding device designated generally 35 in Fig. 4 and threaded therethrough, which is difflcult, and thence downwardly into the hollow spindle I!) over the pulley guide 36 rotatably mounted on the axis 31 in the spindle and thence over the guide sheave 38 rotatably mounted inthe flyer H and upwardly as a cable 39 to eventually be packaged.

At the lower end of each of the package spools, the spool is non-rotatably associated with a brake drum 4!] which is engaged by a brake shoe 4| mounted in the arcuate arm 42. This arm is pivoted as at 43. The threaded stud 44 is adjustable in the lug 45 carried by this member arm so as to vary the tension which is applied by a spring 46 engaging as at 41 the bracket 26. Thus spring pressure is applied upon the brake drum to retard rotation of the spool. Adjustment may be provided of the spring tension by disconnecting one end of the spring and rotating the stud 44.

By this arrangement of guiding the strand over a post and thence many times about the drums which are spaced a substantial distance apart, a long end of strand material exists between the time the strand leaves the package and the time the strand enters the hollow spindle. Breaks usually occur as the strand leaves the package and thus the long extent of strand material will be sufficient to prevent this end from passing into the hollow spindle before the machine is stopped Also ready inspection of the strand just prior to entering the spindle is provided for.

Above the main deck l3 a. deck 40 is provided by extending some of the posts l8 and on this upper deck a package It is likewise provided with also a guide post In and drum 30 and 3!. The same guide 2'! is provided for leading the strand material onto the drums but pulleys 4| and 42 are provided for leading the strand material from the drums over these two pulleys to guide it into the hollow spindle, this upper strand usually serves as a core.

The center guide is generally designated 35 and is equipped with pulleys 45 (see Fig. 4) over which the strands lead. It will be noted that each of the wire strands 34 after passing over the guide pulley 35 enters a groove of a central guide 45 where the space 41 between this guide and the body 48 isvery narrow which would make threading up of a broken strand a slow and laborious operation.

A stop motion is provided so that the motor 50 which drives the spindle and which is operated by a supply line (see Fig. 6) may have this supply line interrupted. Terminal contacts 52 and 53 are provided in the line which are bridged by the switch 54. This switch may be withdrawn from the contacts 52 and 53 by a. coil energized in a separate circuit of which 55 is a source of energy. This circuit is normally open and includes ground or framework of the machine l2 and the annulus 24 which is insulated from the machine frame as at 25.

The drop wire or member 23 moves when the strand 32 breaks to electrically connect these terminals. The member 23 is designated in the circuit shown in Fig. 5 so that when it drops the circuit will be completed to be energized and withdraw the member 54 opening the power supply and bringing the machine to a rest.

The machine will be brought to rest quickly and prior to the time that a strand adjacent the post l8 will have opportunity to run out around the drum 30 and 3| about which it extends several times.

By this stop motion arrangement the broken wire may be pieced up without the necessity of threading the wire down through the diflicult center guide as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The electric current is carried into the live contact 24 through the brush 60 on the fixed framework l2 which engages the plate 6i carried by the flyer. An insulated annulus 62 is carried on the upper side of the flyer and through suitable insulation a connection is made between the insulated annulus 6i and insulated annulus I 62 by a bus bar or the like 63 A brush 54 engages this annulus 62 which brush is carried by the creel i3 and which transfers energy to the strap 65 through the annulus 24 with which each of the drop wires 23 may engage. For the supply spool on the upper deck a connection is made as at 61 from the annulus 24 through the contact member 68 which is at the base of the post l8 of the upper deck so as to be contacted by the drop wire 23 which is on this post to similarly complete the circuit.

I claim:

1. In a wire cable machine, a supply package, a hollow spindle through which the strand from the package passes, an electric stop motion, a guide post adjacent the package about which the strand extends, and a pair of drums each rotatable and about which the strand extends a plurality of times after leaving said post and prior to entering said spindle, and stop motion actuating means mounted on said post maintained in inactive position by the strand engaging and passing about said post.

2. In a wire cable machine, a hollow spindle, a supply package spaced from the spindle, a guide post located between the package and the spindle and having an axis parallel to the spindle, a pair of drums located on the other side of the supply package from the spindle and a guide adjacent each of said drums. whereby the strand from the supply package extends inwardly about said post thence outwardly and over one guide, thence about said two drums a plurality of wraps and over the other guide and to said hollow spindle.

3. A cable machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein the axis of the supply package is parallel to the axis of the spindle.

4. A cable machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein the plane of the axes of said drums is at right angles to the axis of said spindle.

HOWARD E. KUEHN. 

